


The Grinding Down

by NEStar



Category: Alice (TV 2009)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:29:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27926779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NEStar/pseuds/NEStar
Summary: Duchess reclaimes her name.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2





	The Grinding Down

One month after the fall of the Queen, she regained her name.

She had learned very quickly that her life hung on the mood of the Queen, so she pulled on the title of The Duchess and soon everyone at court forgot what that her name had once been Hope.

The only ones who keep her name alive were the diamond girls from the casino (Jack had never bothered to ask what it was); they would slip into her room and say, “I'm seeking Hope”. The hope the girls sought came in two forms, bottles of Serenity and letters from home smuggled in and out of the casino (she always handled those letters so lovingly, she would give anything to have someone to write to).

So when the casino fell, and took her role of The Duchess with it, she had been shattered. Who would she be now. For the first few weeks she wandered in a daze through the bustle of suits and workers until one day a casino girl came up to her, “We've claimed a camp space, come stay with us, Hope?”

The sound of her name flowed over her like a river; she didn't need to be The Duchess any more, she could take the time to simply be Hope.

One month after the fall of the Queen, she regained her name and soothed her soul.


End file.
